NFL should push this play that cost Vikings out of football

Call it the “tush push,” the “lumbar lunge,” the “coccyx crush” or the world’s least-musical mosh pit.

Call the modern quarterback sneak whatever you want. Then call it off.

The “brotherly shove” is not a real football play, dumbs down the sport, erases potentially spectacular plays and forces officials to make difficult game-deciding calls.

On Saturday in Cincinnati, the Vikings were in the midst of a thrilling-if-uneven overtime game with the Bengals. They faced third-and-1 at the Cincinnati 42. The game would be decided in the next two plays, when Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens barely moved while being pushed by wide receiver Brandon Powell.

If the tush push didn’t exist, the Vikings either would have run a traditional quarterback sneak or a real offensive play. Given that Mullens is not large or mobile, Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell probably would have called for a power run or a play-action pass.

When he did that earlier in the game, the result was a deft play fake and pass from Mullens to Ty Chandler for a big gain. You know, one of those plays highlighting all of the aspects that make football great: planning, precision, sleight of hand, athletic ability and situational awareness.

Instead, the two plays that could determine the outcome of the Vikings’ season required none of the above.

O’Connell called for two consecutive tush pushes — quarterback sneaks aided by a teammate or teammates pushing the quarterback from behind. It failed twice.

Once we’re done debating whether Powell, one of the smallest players on the roster, should have been the push person — and he shouldn’t have, and here ends the debate — we should acknowledge that the tush push is an unimaginative, ugly and problematic play.

The NFL is in the entertainment business. The tush push is a dull and unimaginative play, the result of which often…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/souhan-nfl-push-play-cost-221100216.html

Author : Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Publish date : 2023-12-17 22:11:00

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